The present invention generally relates to automatic disc selection type reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a reproducing apparatus which automatically selects one disc from among a plurality of discs accommodated within an accommodating mechanism part of the reproducing apparatus.
As an automatic disc selection type reproducing apparatus, there is the so-called juke box. In the juke box, a plurality of record discs are arranged horizontally within an accommodating rack, in a state where the recording surfaces of the record discs face the recording surfaces of the respective adjacent record discs. A main player body moves along the side of the accommodating rack, and stops at a position opposing a record disc which is designated and is to be played. An arm member rotates in one direction and extracts the designated record disc, and loads this disc on the main player body to be played. After the record disc is played, the arm member rotates in a direction opposite to the above one direction so as to unload the record disc from the main player body and return the record disc back to the original position within the accommodating rack.
However, in such a juke box, the main player body is disposed to the side of the accommodating rack, and the arm member which is designed to hold the outer peripheral edge of the record disc must move partly within the accommodating rack. For this reason, there must be a sufficient gap between two adjacent discs which are accommodated within the accommodating rack, so that the arm member can move between two discs and extract or insert the record disc from or into the position between the two discs. As a result, the pitch with which the record discs are accommodated within the accommodating rack is large, and the number of record discs which can be accommodated within the accommodating rack having a predetermined length is small. In other words, the record disc accommodating capacity of the accommodating rack is small. On the other hand, when the number of record discs to be accommodated within the accommodating rack is fixed to a large number, the length of the accommodating rack becomes large, and it is difficult to downsize the juke box. In addition, since the arm member is designed to hold the outer peripheral edge of the record disc and move the record disc between the accommodating rack and the main player body, the construction of the juke box as a whole is complex.